Arsenal table £15m bid for Man Utd transfer target – report

According to a report in the Daily Star, Arsenal have stepped-up their interest in Elseid Hysaj by tabling a £15m bid to Napoli for the highly-rated full-back.

Arsene Wenger is understood to be on the look out for a versatile defender as Kieran Gibbs and Mathieu Debuchy are expected to leave the club this summer while Calum Chambers could also be heading out on loan.

Hysaj is a name that’s emerged as a potential target in recent weeks with the Daily Star reporting that the boss has been hugely impressed by the Napoli defender after scouting him throughout last season.

The 22-year-old only joined Napoli from Empoli last summer but enjoyed an excellent first season with the club having played in all but one of their Serie A games as they finished runners-up to Juventus.

It looks like we’ve now formalised our interest as the newspaper claims that Arsenal officials have tested Napoli’s resolve with an opening £15m offer for the Albanian international.

There is no indication as to whether the Italian club have responded to our bid yet but the Star does claim that we could face stiff competition as Man Utd, Chelsea, Barcelona and Atletico Madrid are also believed to be keen on Hysaj.

The youngster is in-demand after forging a reputation as one of the best full-backs in Italy last season and he’s already caught the eye at Euro 2016 in the impressive Albanian team which is on course to qualifying for the knockout stages, so it easy to see why Wenger wants him.

Hysaj is predominantly a right-back so he would replace Debuchy/Chambers in supporting Bellerin but he’s also capable of playing at left-back so his versatility will appeal to the boss as he could also cover for Monreal with Gibbs expected to leave.